Paul Nyathi
As the world reckoned with another day of uncertainty over the result of the U.S. presidential election, President Trump’s premature victory claim, unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud and the threat of legal challenges continued to overshadow the drawn-out vote count. Even as the tally seemed to approach a climax, the lack of clarity was met with deep unease around the globe over what lies ahead for the U.S. political process — and more than a little glee from America’s traditional adversaries.
Amid the slow count, America’s global image as a model for other democracies to emulate has taken yet another battering, especially among its allies around the globe.
In Canada, lawmakers have been relatively silent on the aftermath of the vote, but election coverage continued to dominate the country’s largest newspapers, to the point that they nearly resembled U.S. dailies.
The Toronto Star described a “nagging, palpable sense of dread” that no matter who prevails, Canada has never felt “so far apart” from its southern neighbor. An editorial in the Globe and Mail, meanwhile, commented on Trump’s litigiousness.
“Better an army of lawyers than an army of Proud Boys,” the paper wrote. “Americans suing Americans? Yawn. Have at it.”
After Trump falsely declared victory before the votes were counted on election night, he spent much of Wednesday and Thursday leveling allegations of electoral fraud without evidence. His campaign has since announced legal challenges to determine which votes will count.
In a statement Thursday evening at the White House, Trump again claimed without proof that he had been cheated and leveled unsubstantiated allegations of widespread vote-rigging — remarks that threatened to further undermine the credibility of American democratic practices.
Iran’s Press TV, a government-owned channel broadcasting in English and French, aired Trump’s remarks live, providing it more coverage than some U.S. outlets. The Mirror, a left-leaning U.K. newspaper, described Trump as “rambling from the White House podium with lies, untruths and misleading claims,” while The Australian, a conservative-leaning newspaper, accused Trump of “making unsubstantiated claims of corruption against the Democrats.” Like many other news outlets worldwide, The Mirror and Australian carry live updates of the U.S. election.
Source: Washington Post/News Agencies